SWIOFC - Report of the second Working Party on Fisheries Data and Statistics. Mombasa, Kenya, 28 - 30 April 2008

Abstract

The second Working Party of the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission on Fisheries Data and Statistics was attended by participants from Comoros, France, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, the United Republic of Tanzania, Yemen, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), the Regional Programme for the Sustainable Management of the Coastal Zones of the Indian Ocean (ReCoMap) and the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Project (SWIOFP). The Working Pa rty received updates of the status of monitoring of the fishery catches by the member countries of the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission. Some countries were upgrading their systems, others continued with existing systems that operated satisfactorily. Comoros and Somalia had no systems in place. The Working Party discussed minimum data requirements for effective fisheries management in three artisanal fishery types: tuna, shark and small pelagic fisheries. Each country provided the existing availability of data for these requirements. As requested, the Working Party also examined the standardization and synchronization of frame surveys from a technical presentation on frame survey design as well as from information provided by the countries at the meeting. Due to the large variety of artisanal vessels in the region a more detailed analysis would be required in order to provide recommendations to the Scientific Committee. The Working Party commented on Statbase metadatabas e descriptions made by countries and clarified some of the terms and definitions. In the process it was recognized that closer comparision of the datasets in respective countries was necessary. Other metadatabases discussed included WioFish and Transmap. The statistics of fishery catches in each country was examined and recommendations made for their improvement. The catch statistics held by IOTC for tuna fisheries and their bycatch, the SWIOFP data management plan and the activities supported b y ReCoMap, were presented. The Working Party made recommendations on improving the situation of fisheries data and statistics for the consideration of the Scientific Committee of the SWIOFC.